NBA Draft: Best international players ever taken

9. Andrei Kirilenko, SF, Russia

1999 Draft: No. 24 pick by the Utah Jazz

Andrei Kirilenko was one of the first draft-and-stash success stories, along with Peja Stojakovic and Manu Ginobili. Kirilenko was selected in the 1999 NBA Draft by the Jazz, who needed future pieces to bridge the gap after John Stockton and Karl Malone retired, but recognized Kirilenko needed some more development. Rather than throwing him at the end of the bench on a veteran team, the Jazz allowed him to stay in Russia, where he instantly became a star for CSKA Moscow, winning MVP of the Russian League in 2000. He then joined the Jazz in 2001-2002, and became one of the best two-way players in the league over the next decade.

Kirilenko’s athleticism allowed him to be a terror on defense and an efficient slasher on offense, and he paired those two skills to become a vital cog for some quality Jazz teams in the mid-2000s. He was an All-Star in 2004, averaging 16.5 points and 8.1 rebounds per game for the first post-Stockton/Malone squad, and transitioned into a solid fourth option for the 2007 Jazz team that made the conference finals. He also was routinely one of the toughest players to score on in the mid-2000s, making three All-Defensive teams, and becoming the only wing player to ever lead the league in blocks per game (3.3 per game in 2004-2005).

Kirilenko’s career may have fizzled after 2011 (two years in Russia sandwiching three very iffy years with the Timberwolves and Nets), but for a solid decade, he was one of the best defensive players in the league, and he helped pave the way for the “draft-and-stash” approach to international drafting.

Next: 8. Vlade Divac